I went to meet Mr. Gupta.
It was a sales call. I had acquired this appointment after a long persistent follow up. As I searched his office, the sun soared higher making the day really unpleasant.
Still I was sure that the meeting would be not only pleasant but also fruitful. I asked for the street near the Crawford market and everybody gave me a different answer about its location. Eventually I found the office.
As I entered in a low lit office of my client, my only concern was how to convince him, yet I could not ignore the dirt and filth around me. A raggedly dressed man pointed out to a office on first floor. The steps of the staircase were high in height but narrow and I did get a mark of chuna on my shirt as I climbed. So I shifted my bag on to my left shoulder to hide the mark.
The office was well kept. I sat on the chair and we talked.
It was a sales call. I had acquired this appointment after a long persistent follow up. As I searched his office, the sun soared higher making the day really unpleasant.
Still I was sure that the meeting would be not only pleasant but also fruitful. I asked for the street near the Crawford market and everybody gave me a different answer about its location. Eventually I found the office.
As I entered in a low lit office of my client, my only concern was how to convince him, yet I could not ignore the dirt and filth around me. A raggedly dressed man pointed out to a office on first floor. The steps of the staircase were high in height but narrow and I did get a mark of chuna on my shirt as I climbed. So I shifted my bag on to my left shoulder to hide the mark.
The office was well kept. I sat on the chair and we talked.
They are a trucking company and we (my company) was going to customize a product just for them.
So he started on the trucking business in India. How the roads are killing. How the cops are corrupt. How the margins are going down.
Half and hour slipped and yet we were nowhere close to the actually talk I wanted to do. Eventually the story began...
A truck driver from his company had hit and run last night. His (drivers) driving had resulted in death of 2 people and the cops had arrested him this morning after a chase. The family of the truck driver was in the office in the next room and wanted him back untouched.
Guptaji stopped the chat with me after every few minutes and went in to have a work with them and make a bunch of phone calls - to a bunch of people. (Cops, MLAs, Other Business men). It was getting very clear to me that this meeting is a dead-end for me. I was not going to get anything and thus I changed tracks.
I now wanted to genuinely understand Guptaji as a person. So I asked him, about the incident. What was his take about the incident.
"Oh I think the driver needs a bit of leeway. These drivers have a hard life. Long months away from home. Long hours of driving. Bad roads. Cops who want money. And many others things. Naturally these drivers are drunk when they drive at night. And they usually still do the job well and in fact they actually make up time. "
I asked -" So you think the driver did nothing wrong"
Guptaji - "Oh The driver was wrong alright. Its wrong to be drunk and drive. But the roads are meant to be better. Cops are supposed to help people and not harass them. So what happened was a symptom of the disease and not the actual disease. "
"So you will help this guy get out scotch free"
Guptaji - "Oh absolutely, you cant punish the symptom for a disease can you. He was drunk because he was frustrated. I cant solve his problems but I can surely help him out"
I got out of the office later that afternoon with shaken thoughts. Is this leeway - a help him out ... (because of a bad system) or is it a start of another bad system!
By Ninad Tatke.
So he started on the trucking business in India. How the roads are killing. How the cops are corrupt. How the margins are going down.
Half and hour slipped and yet we were nowhere close to the actually talk I wanted to do. Eventually the story began...
A truck driver from his company had hit and run last night. His (drivers) driving had resulted in death of 2 people and the cops had arrested him this morning after a chase. The family of the truck driver was in the office in the next room and wanted him back untouched.
Guptaji stopped the chat with me after every few minutes and went in to have a work with them and make a bunch of phone calls - to a bunch of people. (Cops, MLAs, Other Business men). It was getting very clear to me that this meeting is a dead-end for me. I was not going to get anything and thus I changed tracks.
I now wanted to genuinely understand Guptaji as a person. So I asked him, about the incident. What was his take about the incident.
"Oh I think the driver needs a bit of leeway. These drivers have a hard life. Long months away from home. Long hours of driving. Bad roads. Cops who want money. And many others things. Naturally these drivers are drunk when they drive at night. And they usually still do the job well and in fact they actually make up time. "
I asked -" So you think the driver did nothing wrong"
Guptaji - "Oh The driver was wrong alright. Its wrong to be drunk and drive. But the roads are meant to be better. Cops are supposed to help people and not harass them. So what happened was a symptom of the disease and not the actual disease. "
"So you will help this guy get out scotch free"
Guptaji - "Oh absolutely, you cant punish the symptom for a disease can you. He was drunk because he was frustrated. I cant solve his problems but I can surely help him out"
I got out of the office later that afternoon with shaken thoughts. Is this leeway - a help him out ... (because of a bad system) or is it a start of another bad system!
By Ninad Tatke.
1 comment:
Not very well written. Poor grammar. Message isn't very clear and the topic chosen has been done to death.
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